Peace-making in Afghanistan: Heart of Asia is in Question?

Preview

PDF, English Download (571kB) | Terms of use Download (571kB)

Abstract

For the given of its geographical location and strategic significance in the geopolitical landscape of the Asia, Afghanistan has been popularly known as ‘Heart of Asia’. It is a landlocked with an area of 652,230 km², located at the crossroads of the North-South and East-West corridors in the Asia. It is a bridge between the South, Eastern, Western and Central Asia. Therefore, Afghanistan has been holding the pivotal position for connectivity and economic integration to these adjacent regions of the Asian continent. It has been very rich in mineral sources. The entire energy projects such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), CASA-1000, Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity project (TUTAP), railway-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT), and Chabahar-Afghanistan trade corridor, have made the Afghanistan as the ‘Heart of Asia’. However, all these energy, electricity projects, railway lines, and corridor depended upon peace and stability of Afghanistan. In this backdrop, the extra-regional powers have been concerned about the security situation in Afghanistan in general and the regional countries in particular. In the present context, Afghanistan has been falling in the ‘Arc of Turbulence’. For the given vested interests, peace, prosperity, stability and security of Afghanistan have been holding paramount importance for regional and extra regional countries.